Upright piano.



G. P. THOMPSON.

UPRIGHT PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 22. ms.

Patented Sept. 5, 191?.

GEORGE P; THOMPSON, OF PRINCETON, ILLINOIS.

UPRIGHT PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Application filed January 22, 1916. Seriai-No. 73,559.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GeouonP. Tnonrsox, a citizen of the United States, residing at lrinceton, "in the county of Bureau and State of Illinois, hareinrented certain new and useful Improvements in Upright a Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to upright pianos and has for its object the provision of an instrument, the tone quality of which is superior to that of npright pianos heretofore in common use.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be ;apparent as it is better understood by refelenre to the following specitication when ead in connection with the accompanying drawing, illustrating, the PFC- ferred embodin'ient thereof, in 'hic h Figure l is a front elevation of an upright piano according to my invention, the upper front 'portion of the case being removed for better illustration, and Fig. 2 is a. vertical section on the line-2 of Fig.1. In upright pianos, as usually constructed, the upper ends of the strings are disposed in a substantially horizontal line, the strings extending d('i\\'n\\-': irdly in varying lengths, depending upoi-ith'e' particular note to 'bo sounded thereby. It is a well-known fact that the tone quality of such pianos is usually inferior to that of pianos of the horizontal type, )articularly in the bass' section, because. of .tie limitations imposed by the conventional form of upright piano eases.

Referring to the. drawing, 1 indicates'a case which maybe of any suitable form, that illustrated being suggestive. of the form of a. harp, the tone quality of which is closely approximated by my improved pright piano. A metal string plate 2,;to which the strings 3 are anchored, is disposed within the case 1 and the usual sound board .4 is also provided.

In order to provide 'for bass strings of considerably greater length than have heretofore been employed in upright pianos the upper portion of the string plate 2 in my improved upright piano extends upwardly at the. bass section of the piano, as is clearly indicated in Fig. l. The strings 3 in the. bass section are anchored lo the highest portion of the string plate 2 and extend downwardly obliquely of the. plate. lly this arrangement l am enabled to provide bass strings substantially equal in length to those employed in pianos 0f the horizontal type. 4

'Pivotally mounted on the support 6 are a.

plurality of keys 7, each of which is connected by a rod 8 to a member 9, to which is pivotally secured a jack 10. The upper ends ofthe jacks 10 engage the shanks 11 of the hammers 12, pivotally mounted on a suitable support. 13 extending longitudi nally of" the case 1.

The actuating mechanism for the harm mers just described is identical informand mode of operation with that commonly employed in upright pianos.

A rest rail 13 extends longitudinally of the case 1 in front of the hammers 1L and is adapted to be engaged therebywhen the As will be readily understood byreference to Fig. l, the hammers 1i arefla-rranged in a.

line curving upwardly in the central section of the piano so that the ammers=\v liioh cooperate 'ivith, the bass s timgsfare considerably higher t'han thojjsje:wh-iclrcooperate with hammers return after strikingthe strings 3.

13 curves u iwardly' in the central section of I the piano to correspondwith the position of the action hammers.

it will be noted that'the shaulzs ll of the so hammers 12 are pivoted in a horizontal line extending longitudinally of the case 1 and that, therefore, the. shan 3 ll vary in length, those correspondin" to the bass strings being materially longer than those at the treble end of the piano This arrangementma.- terially aids in producing tones of a superior quality. A

It will be ap 'iarent that various changes may be made. in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its material advantages,

the form hercinbefm'c described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

l claim: v

l. :\n upright piano comprising a string plate, a plurality of strings secured thereto, a plurality of keys and a plurality f llamllNlS actuated thereby and provided with shanks, said Sllnl 's living longer in tlie bass than in the treble section of the piano, whereby said hammers engage said strings along a line which is farther from the plane of the keys in the bass than in the treble seelion.

2. An upright piano comprising a string plate, a plurality of strings secured thereto, a plurality of keys and a plurality of hammers actuated thereby and provided with shanks, said shanks being longer in the bass than in the treble section of the piano and of gradually increasing length. in' the central section, whereby said hammers engage said strings in a line which is parallel to the plane of said keys at both ends thereof and 15 inclined to the plane of said keys in the central section of the piano.

GEORGE P. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT W. T. \VnsTEnBnnG. 

